Computer-Telephone Integration (CTI) generally refers to a system in which a computer automatically responds to an incoming (or outgoing) telephone call. One application is in the consumer catalog business for a computer system which includes a data base of catalogue items and previous orders by customers. A computer-telephone integration system lets the customer service representative know the name of the calling customer without asking. The caller's telephone number, or a keyed in identification number, is extracted from the telephone system and fed into the computer to automatically retrieve and display data as required. Computer-telephone integration systems save time and greatly increase productivity. Such systems are used in the airline industry for handling fare and ticket queries and in many other businesses which regularly handle customer calls.
Computer-Telephone Integration is also applicable to outbound call handing. In applications such as account collections, a user of a CTI system could make many more contacts per day by the more efficient call processing that CTI affords. For example, A CTI system can automatically extract a telephone number from an application database record, and send commands to the telephone switching device that will dial the number extracted. This reduces keystroke and button push time for the user. In addition, A CTI system could command the telephone switching device to automatically dial from a list of telephone numbers (e.g. delinquent accounts) and not connect the call to a user until it has been determined that a live person has answered, eliminating calls unanswered, busy calls and calls answered by a telephone answering device.
There are, however, many different manufacturers of telephone switching devices used in a computer-telephone integration system. And, each manufacturer generally establishes unique protocols for the telephone functions to be performed on the computer such as the dial, hold, answer, conference, and transfer functions.
So, those skilled in the art must write specific interface programs so that the commands from the computer keyboard are correctly recognized by the telephone switching device, and vice-versa. But these specific interface programs will not necessarily work at another site and/or in connection with other types of telephone switching devices.
In general then, computer telephone integration systems are generally custom designed and integrated for individual customers for use only at the customer site.